The art of silk screening or screen printing has been used by printers for many decades to print multi-colored images on textiles. In order to accelerate and control the curing process of the dye or ink, quartz flash cure units have been developed that emit high-intensity electromagnetic radiation over the dye.
Quartz flash cure units are used by printers, and commonly seen on automatic printing processes, in order to accelerate the printing process on a silk screen printing device. Quartz flash cure units operate, generally, by placing the flash cure unit over a textile, after a pass of the silk screen squeegee, and commencing irradiation. The emission of high-intensity radiation by the quartz flash cure unit assists curing by accelerating and controlling the cure process of the dye. Then, the quartz flash cure unit is moved from the textile and the printer is able to more quickly commence printing another color to the textile, or remove the textile from the device, due to the accelerated curing process.
In order to more conveniently place and remove the quartz flash cure unit, numerous mechanisms have been developed for mounting the flash cure unit. In one common, simple mechanism, quartz flash cure units are mounted on modular rolling stands, which allow the quartz flash cure unit to be rolled over the textile for curing. After the curing process, the unit is rolled away, in order to allow the printer to print another color or remove the textile from the device. In another common automatic printing process, the quartz flash unit is mounted such that it is stationary, and the textile is moved beneath the quartz flash unit for irradiation. In either case, these flash cure unit mechanisms are inefficient and time consuming to place and remove from the curing position. Accordingly, automatic printing processes are very cumbersome and not well-suited for use on sample systems. Thus, certain mechanisms have been developed in order to assist in the process of placing and removing the quartz flash cure unit from over the textile.
One such mechanism is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,854,398 to Martin, which discloses a screen printing and drying machine wherein print and drying mechanisms are mounted on multiple turrets of the machine. Martin's mechanism accelerates the positioning process by rotating the print and drying mechanism along a common axis. The Martin mechanism, however, is relatively large and complicated and, thus, unsuited to production of individual or small numbers of textiles. Another, similar device is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,136,938 to Pellegrina, which also discloses a multi-color printing system arranged around a turret. Pellegrina's device improves upon Martin's mechanism by disclosing a similar mechanism that includes a forced air heating and cooling mechanism for curing. Like Martin's mechanism, however, Pellegrina's device is unsuited to the production of individual or a small number of articles.
Other such mechanisms are disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,287,826 to Brabec, U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,101 to Ericsson, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,315 to Pierson, Jr., which disclose an in-line, multi-station printing systems that include print and drying stations. Brabec's device is not compatible with common sample printing machines where a single silk screen press is used for passes of multiple colored dyes. Ericsson's device, which places a drying station along a conveyor, is also unsuitable for sample printing machines. Finally, while Pierson, Jr. discloses a shiftably mounted heating device, it fails to disclose a mechanism that is compatible with textile silk screening devices.
Another such mechanism is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,174 to Tartaglia et al. Tartaglia's devices feature a moveable longitudinal heater mounted above the screen printing platens and movable across the platens in order to apply heat to the textiles after printing. In Tartaglia's mechanism, the heating apparatus comprises a carriage separate from the silk screen mounting. Also, the mechanism is adapted to a multi-screen printing apparatus and is, thus, unsuited to screen printing devices used in sample printing.
Another such mechanism, which is adapted for use with multi-station silk screen printing devices, is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,749 to Ford. Ford's device discloses an apparatus wherein a fabric drying heater is capable of being mounted on one or more of the modular silk screening stations on the apparatus. While disclosing a means of using a drying mechanism in conjunction with a screen printing mechanism, however, Ford's device fails to disclose a means that is compatible with sample press machines wherein the squeegee is passed over the article.
Another such mechanism is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,030 to Fuqua, which discloses an apparatus for mounting a curing device to a silk screen device that includes a carriage, which holds the curing device, slidably mounted between a pair of rails and a mechanism for moving the carriage over the printing platen. Thus, like Tartaglia's device above, Fuqua's device also discloses a means for mounting a curing device to a movable carriage.
In neither device, however, is the curing carriage integrated such that it operates using the same rails as the printing mechanism. Thus, none of the disclosed mechanisms teach a system integrating a quartz flash cure unit with a silk screening device in a compact system, wherein the curing device is mounted on rails that also mount the printing mechanism, such that the curing device may be quickly and easily positioned and removed, and wherein the system utilizes a timer for added consistency, and time savings.